Forgive Me
by Ariel.611
Summary: Eren notices that Mikasa has been acting strange after reuniting in the Scouts following the fall of Trost. He demands answers and is surprised when she asks for his forgiveness. What is Mikasa apologizing for and why is Eren so angry? One shot. Eren-centric.


Eren frowned as he sat with his new squad, his gaze fixed on the new recruits sitting across the hall. Specifically, on Mikasa who was seated next to Armin at the edge of the table with Sasha sitting across from her trying not so covertly to sneak the raven haired girl's bread. Mikasa seemed to notice and picked up the small loaf quickly shoving it into the other girl's mouth. Sasha beamed, tears streaming down her rose tinged cheeks and Armin laughed, discreetly breaking his bread in half and setting part of it on Mikasa's plate.

Eren's lips twitched into a smile at that. The scene had played our in a similar fashion countless times since the three of them had become orphaned (Mikasa for the second time) following the government enforced 'herd thinning' where Armin's grandfather was sent off to die.

"What are you looking at?" Oluo asked following the kid's gaze. "Oh, your friends?" He smirked. "That dark haired girl by the blonde kid is a pretty little thing isn't she?"

Petra's attention shifted at that comment and she too glanced over. "Who is she?" She asked.

"Mikasa Ackerman." Eren replied.

Eld's attention perked at that. "Really? I've heard about that girl. They say she's worth a hundred soldiers and already has at least half a dozen kills under her belt from the Trost incident alone."

Gunther whistled low. "Damn. You two close?" He asked.

Eren nodded. "Yeah. My family took her in after her parents were murdered when she was nine." He explained. "We've been together ever since."

"Together, huh?" Oluo teased cocking a brow.

"Shut it!" Eren snarled a tinge of blush touching his cheeks. "It's not like that."

"Then why are you staring?" Petra asked. "Do you miss her?"

The Titan Shifter's jaw clenched. "Yes," he admitted in a voice so soft they barely caught it. "But that's not why." He said quickly studying his best friend closely. "She's… off somehow. There's something bothering her."

"How can you tell? She looks fine to me." Gunther replied.

Eren shook his head. "Her movements are jerky, she's been tugging at her scarf more than normal," his eyes narrowed slightly as he watched Armin lightly rub his hand down the girl's arm, a gesture he recognized immediately as a comforting one. "Armin's hovering a lot too."

"Jealous?" Oluo sneered.

"No." Eren answered immediately. Armin and Mikasa were close in their own way and he'd never once felt even a twinge of jealousy for what they had and likely never would. "It's just… she hasn't looked at me once." He admitted, the words sparking a twinge of pain in his chest he wasn't expecting.

Armin glanced his way and met his gaze. The blonde's expression brightened and he gently shook Mikasa's shoulder whispering in her ear and then pointing in his direction. The dark haired girl stiffened slightly and then whirled to look at him, her dark hair catching the light in the lovely way only her unique texture could and met his gaze for a fraction of a second. Her gaze quickly dropped to the ground. She abruptly stood and left the room without a word to anyone.

"Mikasa!" Armin called out jumping to his feet.

Eren's jaw clenched. "What the Hell is wrong with her?" He snarled under his breath.

"Eren… did you do or say something to hurt that poor girl?" Petra asked.

"I don't know." He confessed. "I don't think so. I mean, I haven't really had a chance to talk to her since the trial…" his brow furrowed. "Actually, I haven't really talked to her since…" the color drained from his face as he remembered her wounded expression when she begged him to let her come with him on his borderline suicide mission to seal the hole in wall Rose. "Damn it!" He hissed fisting a hand in his hair. Maybe he'd hurt her more than he'd thought.

There was also the fact that he'd nearly killed her in his Titan form. Maybe now that things had settled down a bit, she had become afraid of him. Any rational person would feel the same he supposed. Even so, the thought of her pulling away from him out of fear had his heart stumbling in his chest.

"I knew it. You did something to her didn't you?" Petra said studying his guilt ridden expression. "If you hurry, you should be able to catch her before she makes it to the wing where the girl's are staying."

Eren leapt to his feet. "Can I go talk to her?" He asked.

She nodded. "At least one of us will have to stay close by, but we'll try to give you as much privacy as we can." She assured him.

"Thanks!" He said before sprinting after the girl. "Mikasa!" He called out catching a glimpse of her black hair as she turned down a hallway ahead of him. "Wait!"

She stopped a few steps down the new hallway and turned towards him. "Eren? Is something wrong?" She asked her sharp eyes quickly sweeping over his form looking for anything that looked out of place or would indicate a new injury.

"That's what I wanted to ask you." He said. "What's going on?"

She blinked and then looked away pulling nervously at her scarlet scarf. "Nothing." She replied quickly. "You should probably head to bed. I was told all of the units are doing field training tomorrow. You'll need your strength. Goodnight Eren." She said turning away from him to continue down the hall.

Irritation flashed hot in his blood at her bizarre behavior and he reached out grabbing her by the wrist and pulled her back and to the side so that she collided with the wall and then caged her in with his arms.

"Don't give me that bullshit!" He snarled glaring down at her. Thank goodness he wasn't shorter than her anymore. "What the hell is wrong with you!?" Her eyes widened before she looked away again and his temper flared hotter.

"I'm fine Eren." She replied. "Just a little tired."

"Don't lie to me!" He snapped. She glanced at him and his heart clenched a little at the moisture there and had all of the bite bleeding out of his words and actions as he reached out to gently adjust her scarf, the one he'd given her almost seven years ago, around her neck. "Since when did you start keeping secrets from me, Mikasa?" He asked softly reaching up to gently tuck her hair behind her ear admiring the silky texture of it.

Her dark eyes lifted to his before her head dropped. "I'm sorry Eren." She whispered her voice strained. "I'm so sorry."

He watched tear roll down her face and drip from her chin onto the stone floor and his eyes widened in alarm. She hardly ever cried. It had been years since he'd seen her shed tears though Armin had mentioned something about her crying after finding him following his first Titan transformation.

"Mikasa. Talk to me." He pleaded. "What are you apologizing for?"

"I… I.." her lip quivered and her voice shook as she tried to force out the words. "I gave up." She confessed.

"Gave up? What do you mean?" He asked confused by both her tears and her strange confession.

"On everything." She replied. "That day… Armin told me that you died, and then I ran out of gas and a Titan was coming for me and I just… I gave up. I was going to let that thing eat me before you came and saved me."

His eyes widened in shock and horror at her words. Mikasa, his nagging, overbearing, tough as nails, never back down, fight to the bitter end, Mikasa had given up? Had nearly _let_ herself become Titan food? He was angry, so very angry. How dare she!?

"You were going to let that thing eat you?" He repeated his voice low, quiet, and deadly. "You were just going to roll over and die at the hands of one of those damned monsters?"

She shivered, nodded and then flinched when his fist connected with the stone just above her head. Steam rose from the flesh as his Titan powers went to work healing the broken skin and bones. He didn't even care about the pain, he was far too angry for that.

"Eren?" She whispered.

"Shut up!" He growled. "I'm so pissed off right now." His emerald eyes nearly glowed when he met her eyes again. "Promise me you'll never do something so damned stupid again."

"Eren…"

"PROMISE ME!" He nearly shouted moving closer to her. "Please. Please Mikasa." He whispered. ' _I can't lose you'_ his heart cried out, though his lips refused to say the words.

Her dark eyes widened and he knew she'd understood his heart's silent cry. "I promise." She said softly tentatively laying her hand on his chest over his beating heart. "I'm so sorry."

He took a deep breath and then sighed it out moving back enough to lay his hand gently on top of her head. "It's fine now." He said ruffling the dark tresses.

He heard the sound of a familiar cough from down the hall and knew it was the signal from whomever was waiting for him to wrap things up.

"You should go find Armin. He looked pretty worried when you took off the way you did." He said stepping away from her,

"Alright." She replied letting her hand drop from his chest.

"See you later?" He said letting his hand slide down the short length of her hair before it fell limply at his side,

"Yeah." She said with a little nod. "Don't let that shorty work you too hard."

He cocked a brow at that. "Captain Levi?" She nodded her eyes darkening and he sighed. "He's really not that bad."

She snorted clearly unconvinced and sighed when a female voice dramatically called out her name.

"That sounds like Sasha. You should probably go help her with whatever mess she's gotten herself into." Eren suggested.

"You're right." She replied stepping towards the sound. "Goodnight Eren." She said before padding quickly down the hall towards the dining room.

Eren took a deep breath and turned to lean against the wall his gaze moving to the ceiling. He'd never admit it out loud, but he was secretly quite pleased that he'd not only protected her, but literally saved her life. It was one of his biggest insecurities. The main reason why he pushed her away when she tried to fight for him and protect him. That was what he wanted. He wanted to protect her from all of the cruel things of this world, his inability to do so made him extremely agitated, particularly towards her. Knowing that he had saved her life in a moment where she, the indomitable Mikasa Ackerman, had become too weak to carry on gave him an immense sense of pride even if he was still angry as Hell that she'd fallen so low in the first place.

"She's really important to you, isn't she?" Petra said walking up to stand beside him.

Eren's mind was suddenly filled with images of the dark haired girl. Of her gentle touches, her rare but beautiful smiles, the way her hair shimmered in the light unlike anyone else's, her dark eyes, the elegant way she wielded her swords and glided through the air using her ODM gear, the feel of her arms around him, the warmth of her palm against his heart. It made something warm swell within him.

"Yeah. Yeah she is." He admitted softly.

 **Author's Note: Some ErenxMikasa stuff to help get me into the mood to finish up my SasuSaku fic. Also, because I really like the pairing. Man I've got a thing for angsty couples… Anyway, thanks for reading!**


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